Remember "Jin-O" as a stylish action/RPG released on PS4 and PC? You may remember it as "Samurai Dark Souls" with its severe difficulty curve and imaginative feudal Japan setting Or, like me, you may remember "Nioh" as a somber, feel-good success story [It sold millions of copies, didn't cause controversy, and left a good impression on the gaming community In fact, Sony re-released both games for the PS5 as Nioh Remastered and Nioh 2 Remastered

Sony sent Tom's Guide a code for the Nioh Collection, which includes both Nioh and its sequel, optimized for PS5 We played the games for a few days to see what has and has not changed in the years since their release

First off, if you already own "Nioh" and "Nioh 2" on PS4, you may not need to buy the remastered versions; owners of "Nioh 2" can upgrade for free to "Nioh 2 Remastered," but if you don't own the DLC, you'll need to purchase it separately

However, if you want the remastered version of the original "Nioh" it will cost $50 even if you own the PS4 version You can also purchase The Nioh Collection, which includes everything, for $70 (It's a little confusing, but the PlayStation blog post tries to clarify who gets what and how much)

For the most part, the game is exactly the same as before, with levels, enemies, and items just as you remember them Tom's Guide covered the first game when it debuted, so check out Nioh's review for a complete breakdown

If you've never played a Nioh game before, you play as a samurai in Edo period Japan, fighting human and demonic enemies with a variety of weapons The tough, rhythmic combat is reminiscent of Dark Souls, as are the winding, maze-like levels, the ability to upgrade character stats, and brutal boss encounters

What is interesting about the PS5 version of the game is the vastly improved graphics options: dynamic 4K mode and 120fps mode I tried both modes on both games and was generally pleased with the results

In fact, running games at 120 frames per second is a major selling point of the PS5, but relatively few games support this feature at this time: in addition to the Nioh Collection, Borderlands 3, Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, Destiny 2, Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition, and DIRT 5, and little else

I had hoped that Nioh, with its fast and flowing sword fights, would be able to take advantage of the 120 fps mode that even the PS5's first-person shooters could not What I discovered, however, was that dynamic 4K worked much better

As mentioned above, if you purchase "Nioh Remastered," you are essentially paying for updated graphics The rest of the game stays the same

For this reason, I had tremendous expectations for the 120 fps mode With some PS5 games not reaching 60 fps even when running at full capacity, being able to run games at twice the frame rate is truly amazing

The first stumbling block is that most TVs do not support 120Hz refresh rates Unless they are optimized for gaming, most TVs are capped at 60 Hz, or 60 fps at best You will also need an HDMI 21 cable Regular HDMI 20 cables do not support 120 Hz refresh rates

However, assuming you have both, it is as easy as it gets to enable 120 fps mode on "Nioh Remastered" and "Nioh 2 Remastered" Simply select the game mode from the main menu and choose whether you want to optimize for dynamic 4K, 120 fps, or a standard display (ie, 1080p TV)

You cannot switch between these settings during a game, only from the main menu This is a bit annoying for those who want to experiment with each mode, but once you find one you like, you will probably continue to use that mode forever

First, we tried Dynamic 4K mode As the name implies, this setting keeps the game running at a (relatively) stable 4K, occasionally dropping the frame rate and other graphics features to accommodate

Incidentally, this does not mean that the game is always running at 4K, but rather that 4K resolution takes precedence over other considerations

In this mode, every rock, tree, and flaming arrow is rendered in exquisite detail I was particularly impressed in the early levels of "Nioh 2" when I stood under a tree with striking pink and green leaves, gently swaying in the passing breeze (It helps that "Nioh 2" has an HDR mode for vivid colors)

Perhaps the star of the show for many, however, will be the 120 fps mode; fast and furious combat is at the core of both games in "Nioh," and rendering combat more smoothly would theoretically benefit gameplay, rather than simply making it look better Potential

Indeed, when I turned on the 120 fps mode, I was impressed by how fast the protagonist William swung his sword, evaded enemy attacks, and dashed through burning villages At the cost of this, objects hardly looked sharp, and texture pop-in was noticeable, especially in rocks and trees

What was surprising, however, was that turning Dynamic 4K back on made no significant difference to the frame rate I'm sure there was But even with 4K as a priority, the "Nioh" game maintained a much higher frame rate

Furthermore, these titles are more about how the combat feels than how it looks; even if the combat flowed more smoothly in 120fps mode, it was difficult to notice while focused on punching, parrying, dodging, and spotting enemy patterns!

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Even if the 120 fps mode in "Nioh Remastered" did not overwhelm me, I am glad it did This way, players can choose whichever suits their style of play In any case, it's nice to see two memorable adventures get a new coat of paint

"Nioh" and "Nioh 2" are not that old games, and perhaps neither of them deserved a remaster so soon But while we wait for the new PS5 exclusives, it's a great time to revisit some of the PlayStation classics of the past These two games are solid investments for action/RPG enthusiasts, and even more so if you have a 120Hz TV